1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to percussion instruments and, more specifically, to percussion accessories adapted to be attached or removed from drum sticks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Drum sticks are objects that are typically used to strike drums or other percussion instruments to produce various sounds. The most widely used drum sticks are snare drum sticks usually made of wood, although other materials, including aluminum, nylon, plastic and cotton fiber have also been used. A typical drum stick is round 1.5 cm in diameter and 41 cm long, although drummers have wide range of shapes and sizes to choose from. Drummers sometimes are very particular about the exact shape, size, weight, balance, density and grain of the drum sticks they use as they all provide a different “feel” and sound the stick produces when it impacts on a percussion instrument.
There are numerous percussion accessories that have been proposed for use with drum sticks. While some such accessories, such cow bells, triangles and other percussion instruments are intended to be stricken with a drum stick, it has also been proposed that some percussion instruments be selectively mounted or supported on a drum stick while it is being used for striking another percussion instrument, such as a drum.
Thus, while drum sticks having a percussion component have been known (U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,709) none of these exhibit the simplicity and versatility demanded by drummers. Thus, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,554 discloses a combination drum stick and Maraca. The '554 patent discloses a device that includes two diametrically opposite openings for the passage of a drum stick. Each opening is surrounded on the interior of the ball by means of a sleeve-like flange that may be cemented or otherwise permanently secured to the drum stick. The patent, therefore, contemplates a permanently fixed connection with the maraca accessory. Clearly, this limits the ability to use the drum sticks by themselves or to modify or change the positions of the accessory after initial attachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,097 patent discusses a percussion assembly consisting of a pair of symbols that are mounted on a clamp that can be adjusted and secured by a wing bolt 15. This device is not convenient to use and can damage the drum stick since the free or lower end of the threaded shank applies a compression force to the drum stick while it rotates, thus exerting forces that can stress and damage the drum stick.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,768 discusses a multi-purpose drum ball joint simulator that essentially consists of a spherical ball made of rubber or other elastic material with a diametrical channel extending through it to provide a ball grip to be held in the palm of a hand to balance the drum stick and provide enhanced performance. However, while the ball joint stimulator is intended to be slid onto a drum stick and frictionally engage the drum stick shaft, it does not include any percussion component or create any additional percussion sounds while a drum stick is used to strike a drum or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,709 discloses an adaptable percussion accessory or percussion tool. The percussion accessory uses attachment clamps or the like for attaching a percussion accessory to a drum stick. The clamps are used to attach a support to the drum stick, and a sound device such as a jingle is movably attached to the support. The jingles are moved and produce sounds when the user uses the drum stick on, for example, a drum. The patent also discloses a muffle device and a lever for muffling the sound when actuated when the user moves the lever. However, the disclosed percussion accessory is complex in construction and requires a tool to secure the accessory to the drum stick, such a screw driver or pliers to tighten the fasteners on the spaced clamps. Without the availability of such tools, therefore, the percussion accessory may not be readily removed from the drum stick when needed or desired to do so, thereby limiting the usefulness of the drum sticks and/or the percussion accessory.
Another jingle percussion accessory is known that uses a molded circular rigid plastic frame that supports jingles about its circumference and is provided with two aligned diametrically opposite holes for receiving the shaft of a drum stick. The holes have internal diameters greater than the external diameters of the shafts of the drum sticks so that any drum sticks having a smaller diameter than the diameter of the holes can be readily inserted through the holes to position the jingle accessory on the shaft of the drum stick. In order to secure the accessory to the drum stick a pair of generally radial set screws are used of the type having a hexagonal opening or socket at one end and a pointed tip at the other end. Although such set screws are typically used to fix two hard metallic members to each other the tip ends when used with a wooden drum stick penetrates the stick and forms depressions or holes on the surface. While such set screws prevent axial or sliding movements of the accessory relative to the axial direction of the drum stick, it also weakens the shaft and can promote breakage of the stick when the stick experiences substantial stresses when it impacts against a percussion instrument. Also, the use of two or four set screws on each accessory requires an Allen wrench or “Hex” key to drive or loosen the set screw. Such keys or wrenches are relatively small and can be easily misplaced or lost. Furthermore, the tightening or loosening of the set screws is an inconvenient and time consuming exercise—not one likely to be performed by a drummer, for example, in the middle of a concert. Therefore, effectively, the accessory will either be left off or left on the drum sticks and not selectively mounted on or removed from the drum sticks given different or varying musical requirements. The alternative is for a drummer to have multiple drum sticks some of which permanently carry the accessories while others do not.